Severe Needs Para Educator - Greenwood Elementary School

Cherry Creek Schools•Greenwood Village, CO

About The Position

Assist students with severe special education needs under the direction of licensed special education staff. Support individuals and small groups with curriculum, skill development, behavior strategies, and assignment completion. Prepare instructional materials, monitor student progress, and maintain achievement records. Provide technical physical care and help ensure a clean, safe, and hygienic environment. In remote learning settings, assist students with technology access, curriculum reinforcement, executive functioning strategies, skill generalization, and coursework completion. Assignments may include Autism, BD, Early Childhood Education, Homebound (FAPE), ILC, SED, and Transition Programming. The role has no direct supervisory responsibilities and reports to the School Principal or designee. The work location may change to meet organizational requirements. The position involves working indoors and outdoors, typically at a moderate noise level, and may include physical care tasks and support for students in classroom, homebound, or online settings.

Requirements

High School Equivalency (HSE) diploma.
No professional work experience is required.
Criminal background check and fingerprinting are required.
For Title I assignments, meet at least one of these requirements: complete at least two years of study at an institution of higher education; obtain an associate’s or higher degree; or meet a rigorous quality standard and demonstrate relevant instructional knowledge and ability through a formal state or local academic assessment.
For staff in Autism, Behaviorally Disordered, or ILC assignments, complete mandatory biennial Crisis Prevention Intervention training provided by the District.
Complete District-provided medication administration training as needed.
Basic knowledge of typical office equipment, including telephones, copiers, fax machines, and email.
Basic knowledge of Microsoft Office.
Intermediate verbal and written communication skills.
Intermediate interpersonal relations skills.
Intermediate organizational skills.
Ability to work alone and with others.
Ability to appropriately modify curriculum and implement behavior modification techniques.
Ability to diffuse and manage volatile and stressful situations.
Ability to maintain confidentiality in all aspects of the job.
Ability to work one-on-one and in small groups with students.
For DHH assignments, ability to understand the impacts of hearing loss on learning and social interaction.
For Homebound assignments, ability to set appropriate boundaries and build appropriate relationships while working in students’ homes with families and other healthcare providers, and to communicate appropriately with families while maintaining boundaries.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in the public sector, specifically public education.
Experience working directly with people from diverse racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Racially conscious and culturally competent, with the skill, will, capacity, and knowledge to commit to a culture of continuous improvement.
Associate’s degree.
Experience working with children with special needs in a paid program or licensed special education teaching experience.
Experience working with students with autism, behavior challenges, medically fragile conditions, hearing or vision loss, or intellectual disabilities.
CPR and First Aid certification.

Responsibilities

Assist students with classroom activities, including adapting curriculum to individual student needs and delivering curriculum to individuals and small groups to generalize skills.
Implement student accommodations, supports, modifications, procedures, and programming outlined in Individual Education Plans (IEPs).
Maintain records of student progress and behavior in conjunction with licensed staff, including special reports, feedback, and observations for the IEP team.
Assist licensed special education staff with preparing materials, administering tests, taking attendance, paperwork, documentation, and classroom events such as fire drills.
Monitor students and reinforce appropriate behavior; assist with verbal de-escalation and non-violent crisis interventions to reduce risk of self-harm or harm to others.
Support social interaction and communication between students with special needs and general education peers.
Provide assigned technical physical care, which may include toileting, grooming, cleaning ventilation devices, feeding, G-tube care, positioning, and range-of-motion support.
Following training and delegation by a registered school nurse, follow student medication delivery orders accurately.
In online or remote settings, assist individuals and small groups with synchronous or asynchronous classroom activities, curriculum accommodations or modifications, and skill practice.
For DHH assignments, develop students’ language, vocabulary, reading, and writing using sign language when needed.
Prepare assignments for students to complete at home and support them in completing assigned work.
Support students in troubleshooting technology issues.
Perform other duties as assigned or requested.